When laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery is performed, use is frequently made of an extraction apparatus comprising an endo-removal apparatus. For instance, one such extraction apparatus comprises a surgically insertable receptacle that is sold under the registered trademark ENDOBAG by Covidien LP of Mansfield, Mass., USA. That extraction apparatus generally consists of an operating part with a handle, a tubular guide with a trocar, and a removing part. The organ or parts thereof to be removed is collected in this removing part, which is formed, for instance, by a plastic bag so that the spread of malignant or infected cells is prevented. This is described for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,404. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,521 describes a removing part that can be moved out of and into a tubular guide using pneumatic means. Operation thereof requires the application of a pressure/vacuum system.
The greatest drawback of these endo-removal apparatuses is that the tissue that is extracted cannot be easily transported along other tissue. An opening must further be made in the thorax or abdominal wall for the organ or parts thereof to be removed, this opening being kept as small as possible to minimize the scarring to be left, and thereby facilitate the extraction. Some organs are also removed via a hollow organ which can be accessed from outside the body, such as the stomach, rectum, and vagina. It is nonetheless important that the tissue to be extracted have the smallest possible volume.
European Patent No. EP 959775 describes the use in an endo-removal apparatus of wires of spring steel inside a plastic bag parallel to the axis to enable cutting of the tissue into portions or compressing thereof. There is, however, a great risk of leakage of possibly malignant tissue fluid under such practices.